Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange founder Mark Karpeles gets ...

If you have been around the cryptocurrency industry long enough, you will know that one of the biggest risks faced by users is the loss of funds through hacks on cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges.
Online exchanges are prime targets for hackers and thieves on the internet. This is mainly because of the amount of funds that are kept on these platforms. For hackers that have succeeded in stealing funds from such platforms, the amounts are usually huge.
As much as individual users try to play their roles in securing their accounts by using personal passwords, PINs and codes, there is a higher layer of security that lies in the hands of the platform providers. Once this is breached, the individual security efforts become irrelevant.
Over the years, exchanges and wallets appear to have improved in terms of security as the frequency of hacks and platform breaches have reduced. What used to be a common occurrence in the industry has become a rare development, with hacks now few and far between.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 of the biggest cryptocurrency hacks and scams ever.

10. Bitcoin Gold ($18 Million)

In May 2018, the theoretical 51% attack possibility was proven in a heist that saw a breach in Bitcoin Gold which cost the protocol $18 million.
In this heist, hackers used 51% raw computing power to seize control of the network and carry out their ulterior plans effectively. Ciphertrace and other security outfits in the ecosystem believe that the algorithm weaknesses in Bitcoin Gold’s Proof of Work (PoW) transaction verification may have enabled the success of the theft.

9. Geth ($20 Million)

In June 2018, the Ethereum client Geth was hacked and ETH worth $20 million was stolen. This incidence was reported by blockchain security firm, Cyphertrace. During the hack, JSON-RPC port 8545 was exploited. This is the port that initiates ETH send transactions.
All the ETH wallets that were affected by this breach was drained by the thieves, accumulating to the quoted $20 million equivalence based on the price of ETH at that time.

8. Bancor ($23.5 Million)

In July 2018, about one month after the Geth incident, decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, Bancor was hacked and $23.5 million worth of crypto stolen. This particular event raised some eyebrows in the cryptocurrency industry, redefining the general opinion of decentralized exchanges being prone to hacking.
The process involved the exploitation of a security flaw in a wallet that was used to update some of the smart contracts on the exchange. Bancor, which was one of the most successful ICOs of 2017, raising $153 million during its token sale, was forced to shut down after the hack.

7. Coinrail ($40 Million)

Coinrail was hacked in June 2018, and $40 million was stolen from the exchange. The South Korean exchange which ranked among the top 100 exchanges by volume, suspended its services shortly after the hack.
According to sources from the exchange, the tokens that were stolen included NPXS tokens from the Pundi X project, ATC from Aston and the NPER project’s NPER token.

1. Binance ($40.7 Million)

Binance exchange was hacked in May 2019 and 7,000 Bitcoins were stolen from the platform. The value of the Bitcoins stolen at the time was about $40.7 million.
To achieve their aim, hackers were able to steal API keys, two-factor codes and some other key information to access the wallets. According to the exchange, the incident impacted only about 2% of its total Bitcoin holdings as all other wallets are secure.
Affected wallets were promised a refund through the exchange’s Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) arrangement. This is a policy that the exchange uses to prepare for rainy days. A portion of fees charged on the exchange is set aside in order to ensure that platform users do not bear the brunt during occurrences such as this.

5. Zaif ($60 Million)

Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Zaif was hacked in September 2018 and $60 million was stolen in the process. The theft was possible after hackers gained authorised access into the exchanges hot wallets, making away with huge amounts of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and MonaCoin.
The exchange’s asset reserve could not cover the loss, therefore it reached an agreement with a Japan-listed firm called Fisco to receive a $44.5 million investment in exchange for a major share of ownership.

4. Bitfinex ($77 Million)

The Bitfinex hack of August 2016 was a popular event that rocked the entire cryptocurrency industry. The hack occurred at a time when cryptocurrencies appeared to be shifting gears in terms of awareness and development. As a matter of fact, the aftermath of the event saw the Bitcoin price drop by 20%.
After the hack, Bitfinex issued cryptographic tokens to its users that were affected by the hack, all of which the exchange announced to have bought back by April 2017.

3. BitGrail ($187 Million)

$187 million worth of Nano tokens were stolen from BitGrail in February 2018. The reported theft was announced weeks after the unauthorized transfer was initiated. This information was from evidence retrieved from the Nano blockchain explorer by skeptics.
While BitGrail recognized the concerns of it users, it however stated that it is impossible for it to refund the stolen amount.

2. Mt. Gox ($460 Million)

The Mt. Gox scandal remains one of the biggest stains on the cryptocurrency industry. In February 2014, Mt. Gox was hacked and as much as $460 million was stolen from the exchange. In the wake of this, the exchange’s CEO, Mark Karpeles issued a statement that accepted responsibility on behalf of his company.
“We had weaknesses in our system, and our bitcoins vanished. We’ve caused trouble and inconvenience to many people, and I feel deeply sorry for what has happened, “ he said.
At the time, Mt. Gox was the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange that looked impressive from the outside, but many who claimed to know about the internal workings accused the company of a messy combination of poor management, neglect, and raw inexperience.
The size of this event left a huge dent on the reputation of Bitcoin and the crypto industry at large. It took a long time before the market picked up again, and for users to regain confidence in the industry. The exchange has since gone down and ceased to exist.

1. Coincheck ($500 Million)

The biggest theft in the history of the cryptocurrency industry happened in January 2018, when Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck was hacked. A total of NEM tokens worth $500 million were stolen in the process.
A statement from the exchange accepted the blame and took responsibility for the breach. According to reports, rather than storing its customers’ assets in offline wallets, the assets were stored in hot wallets that were connected to the internet. Coincheck also reportedly failed to protect the wallets with standard multi-signature security protocols.
Having traced the destination of the stolen funds, NEM developers created a tracking tool that would allow exchanges to automatically reject stolen funds.

Conclusion

Hacks and massive theft of cryptocurrencies have contributed to the setback experienced by the technology. Each of the events takes a hit on the confidence of investors and willing participants who may not be sure of how the affected exchanges will handle the situation.
The industry is however learning from past experiences, as the frequency of such hacks have reduced, while in some cases, modalities are being put in place to ensure that end users do not bear the brunt of such events, just like the case of Binance.
The NEM developers’ response to the Coincheck hack has a way of rendering stolen funds unspendable, as long as other members of the community comply. However, no one knows how long this will last, and if the hackers will be able to nullify the traceability of the stolen coins yet.
The action by the developers will discourage hackers and thieves, but is yet to restore value to the end users whose funds have been stolen.
For the industry to grow as it should and become stable, security of funds need to be established. Exchanges and developers are continuously making efforts to ensure that funds and transactions within the industry remain safe at all times.
http://bitcoinadvisor.info/top-10-of-the-biggest-cryptocurrency-hacks-and-scams-eve?fbclid=IwAR1aKdbjF1HQpFQq3jH6PQptxt7mhXHJWsABPnlN5ZEjmq07ByMEYWvVezM

こんにちは！ Platinumのマーケティング部アシスタント、Artem Finkoです。弊社は、世界で一番のSTOおよびICOマーケティングエージェンシで、すでに700以上のICO・STOキャンペーンを成功させています。 弊社はICO・STOのPR、又はセキュリティトークンを機能させる方法についてすべてのコツを知っている専門家です。 以下は弊社のパートナーからのフィードバックをお読みできます。 Platinum.fund 暗号通貨経済の世界に入り込むのは最初から難しそうに見えますが、先刻承知になったら、離れられなくなる。だからこそ、私たちはUBAI大学を設立することにしました。暗号トークンの正体、ICOのマーケティング方法などは、UBAIのコースで詳しく勉強できます！ 3つの主な暗号通貨の変動パターンと特徴は何ですか？ それを知るためにUBAIの記事をお読みください！
主要仮想通貨 概要
仮想通貨は、価値の保存の手段として、特定のビジネスモデルのためのユーティリティートークンとして、あるいは個人と企業間の取引の手段として利用されるかもしれないデジタル資産です。仮想通貨の適切な価格設定、または分類は、近頃の金融世界では最も魅力的で扱い難い話題のひとつです。
ビットコイン（BTC）
あらゆる指標において、ビットコインは世界で最も大きな仮想通貨と言って差し支えないでしょう。ビットコインの価値は、仮想通貨の市場総額の40以上を占め、仮想通貨産業で最もよく知られている存在です。 2100万のBTCが市場に供給されて1600万が流通しています。
ビットコインは2008年12月にホワイトペーパーが発行された後、2009年1月3日に発行されました。ビットコインの発行のタイミングは世界経済の崩壊の直後であり、第一次世界大戦後の大恐慌以降に起きた最も大きな不況の時期でした。 とりわけビットコインに関しては、過去数年での瞬間的な暴騰と前例のないボラティリティーがメディアの報道で強調されて印象に残っているのではないでしょうか。” “主要仮想通貨 概要
イーサリアム（ETH）
イーサリアムは、市場の時価総額で２番目に大きなコインです。イーサリアムは Vitalik Buterin（ヴィタリック・ブテリン）によって開発され、2015年から取引が開始され、かつて無いスピードで成長しました。イーサリアムのブロックチェーンは、その技術的特徴により、開発者が独自にデザインした新しいコインを簡単に創れるように設計されています。
仮想通貨のネットワークでは、イーサリアムは、「イーサ」や「ETH」と呼ばれ、マイニングによる取引の正当性の検証方法はProof of Work（PoW）を用いるようにデザインされています。イーサリアムは、2013年にヴィタリックによって提唱され、その後2014年にICOがされました。ETHは驚くべき事に800億USドルの総資産を持ち、９千７百万トークンが流通しています。
2016年には、ブロックチェーンが分岐（ハードフォーク）し、イーサリウムクラシック（ETC）として知られる新しいイーサリアムが作られました。これは、the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization：非中央集権型独立組織)プロジェクトの失敗に起因します。このプロジェクトは、歴史上最も大きなICOの失敗として記憶されています。イーサリアムのネットワークはブロックチェーン上でスマートコントラクトを実行することが出来ます。 “ “主要仮想通貨 概要
リップル（XRP）
リップルは、国際支払手段の唯一のブロックチェーンになることを目指してスタートしました。時価総額400億USD以上を持つ３番手の仮想通貨になり（2018年２月21日）、その価格は1ドルを超えました。
リップルの最大発行量は1000億XRPであり、990億が総発行量であり、390億が流通しています。リップルは、送金のための銀行間決済に主に用いられます。送金に使われるトークンは、送金後直ちに破棄されます、従ってマイナーが報酬を受け取るProof of Work (PoW) を利用していないことを意味します。
リップルは、リップルネットワークを通じて、銀行と、仮想通貨取引や国際送金機関のような金融サービス機関を繋ぎます。XRPは、Bitfinex（ビットフィネックス）, Upbit, Bittrex（ビットレックス）, Binance（バイナンス）, Poloniex（ポロにエックス）などの仮想通貨取引所で利用されます。リップルのウェブサイトは（www.ripple.com）、リップルプロジェクトの特徴について理解するのに最も適した場所であり、リップルチームが目指す目標を知ることの出来るサイトでもあります。
仮想通貨の市場を調査すると、共通の特徴と要因があることに気付きますが、それらは株式市場やオプション取引、あるいはデリバティブマーケットとは異なる事にも同時に気付くでしょう。” “市場力学
仮想通貨がデジタル資産として最もシンプルであることは既に記しました。そして、このレッスンを受けている方々は既にお気づきのとおり、仮想通貨産業はいまだ黎明期です。仮想通貨産業とマーケットがいまだに未熟なために、全ての仮想通貨はボラティリティーが途方もなく高いのです。
１BTCは、初期の頃の価格は0.00076USドル（約8銭）でした。その後、急上昇して2018年初等に約19,500USD（約220万円）の最高価格（ATH）を記録しました、その後半分以下に下落して2018年9月現在は５桁ドル（100万円台）へは復帰できていません。
何がビットコインにこのような大きな変動をもたらしたのでしょうか？
最近の状況を理解するために、まずちょっとした背景を論じてみましょう。通貨の定義には、取引の手段として用いることができる機能や経済的能力が含まれます。また、通貨は必ず価値を持っています。外国為替市場では、異なる通貨同士が互いに価値を評価しあいます。 例えば、 英ポンド／米ドル、米ドル／日本円、豪ドル／米ドル、などです。仮に、１英国ポンド（GBP）が米国ドル（USD）に対して ＄1.16 の価格だったとしましょう。この場合は、GBPでUSDを買いたいと望む人は誰であれ、１GBPを支払えば、１.16USDと取引することが出来ます。しかし、外国為替では2つのタイプの市場が存在することを知っておかねばなりません。光のマーケット（Light Market）と、ダークマーケット（Dark Market）です。
「光の」マーケットは、重い規則が定められ、政府の許可と管理の下にあります。「闇の」マーケットでは、店頭取引（Over the Counter： OTC）が一般的で、２組あるいはそれ以上を相手にしたプライベートな取引が行われます。 “ “市場力学 §2
仮想通貨とブロックチェーン業界にも同様に、「光」と「闇」のマーケットがあります。伝統的な外為市場と比べて主な相違点は全ての取引所が「光」のマーケットと考えられていることです。それらのマーケットは規制や法整備は強くないにもかかわらず、全ての投資家に対して、重要な情報が公表されています。これは、どのような中央組織も持ちえない、仮想通貨の非中央集権的な特徴です。
取引所は、買手と売手が互いに１つかそれ以上の通貨を取引するために作られた場で、Coinbase （コンベース）, Kraken （クラーケン）, Bittrex （ビットレックス）, Binance （バイナンス）, Poloniex （ポロにエックス）、 Coinexchange （コインエクスチェンジ）などの大手取引所が有名です。 価格は、NYSE（ニューヨーク証券取引所）で取引される株式や債券のように、一秒ごとに変化します。売買価格は、同時間に最高値を付けた買い注文と売注文の間で決定され、同時刻に買手と売手が売買価格と売買量で合意したときのみ発生します。管理者と他の投資家は、取引所で売買された取引価格と取引量を見ることができます。
しかし、取引所で提示された価格とは異なる価格で仮想通貨を売買する人が現れる場合もあります。例えば、通貨危機が発生していた時のジンバブエでは、市民はビットコインを取引所が提示する市場価格よりも高い価格で買い求めようとしたと報じられています。仮想通貨に投資しようとする人は、このような仮想通貨のチャートや市場力学について心にとどめておくべきです。 “ “分類の定義
ここまで繰り返し学んだように、仮想通貨と法定通貨にはいくつかの類似点があり、その点についてもう少し話をしましょう。フィアットのシステムは他の通貨に対して価格が決定され、外国為替市場で取引されます。仮想通貨は仮想通貨取引所で取引され、価格は他と同様に比較されます。典型的な例は、BTC／ETHであり、投資家が一方で他方を買ったり交換したりする際のレートが提示されています。
ビットコインが、金融資産に分類されるべきか、あるいはユーティリティー トークンと呼ばれるべきかについて会計上または法的側面から激しい議論がなされています。一部の評論家は、ビットコインは価値の保存の機能を持っており、通貨よりもむしろ金のようであると考え、他方、BTCはe-goldのようにデジタル資産に分類することを好む人もいます。そして、また別の人々はBTCは証券であし、アップル社の株式と同様であると主張します。
いま、ビットコインの定義について三つの学閥を挙げましたが、金融の専門家や法規制の関係者による最も有力な意見は「デジタル資産」説です。次に優勢なのが「証券」説です。そして、三番目が いわゆるコモディティ商品説です。分類の問題は色々とあり、資産の分類が異なると取扱い方も異なり、価値の見え方も変わってきます。 “ “マーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主要な影響力
仮想通貨の市場は、伝統的な市場と同様に、ビジネスや金融関連のニュースに影響されます。関連ニュースの記事で仮想通貨の相場が動いたいくつかの注目すべき例があります。次のセクションでは、それらについてもっと詳細に見ていきましょう。 最初に、仮想通貨の価格に一般的な影響を与える、主要な影響力をもつ話題があります。これらの様々な要素は、時間、プロジェクトの初期価格設定、取引所への上場、プロジェクト開発の進捗、プロジェクトの特徴、開発メンバー、コミュニティの浸透度、実用性、そして政府や当局の意見などに大きく分類することが出来ます。
伝統的市場のプレーヤー達がよく言うことわざがあります。 「噂で買って、ニュースで売れ」
このことわざが示す教訓は「正しい」と言えます。ニュースを構成する前述の全ての要素は、仮想通貨の価値に影響を及ぼします、しかしそれはシンプルではありません。多くの人が、とあるニュースを目にするときには、それは既に遅すぎます。そのニュースがただの噂ならば、買った方が良いかもしれません。ニュースがヘッドラインに表れたのを見たときには、賢い投資家は早い段階で利益を得て売り払った後であり、よく事情を知らない投資家が遅れて買うのです。 “ “マーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主な影響
時間
時間は、市場で多くのコイン価格形成の特徴に影響を与えます。巨大コイン、例えばBTCやETHは、証券やコモディティ商品よりも頻繁に取引されます。ICOトークンは、初期段階の証券によく似た取引のされ方をします。時間は浄化装置であり分析機器です。時間が経過すればするほど、より多くの取引がなされ、トークンあるいは仮想通貨の真の価値が明らかになります。十分な支援のない、あるいは過剰評価されていたトークンは売られ、一方で過小評価されていたトークンは買われて価格が上がります。
これが、自由市場の機能です。価格は、ファンダメンタルズだけに依存して変動するのではありません。マーケットの思惑と投資家の見解は、市場の推移を理解し予想するために考慮すべき不可欠の要素なのです。
プロジェクトの価値
全ての仮想通貨は、事業の運営を開始するためにホワイトペーパーを用意して発行します。ホワイトペーパーは、プロジェクトの価値を支える基盤となるビジネスモデル、戦略、財政基盤を含みます。
例えば、Cardano (ADA) の評価は、そのコインはイーサリアムの最も有力な競争相手であることを暗示しています。 ADAの制作者は、イーサリアム開発チームのトップメンバーの一人であり、また、ADAはイーサリアムと同様にスマートコントラクトを実行することができます。過去には、ADAの価格は、基板となる技術と戦略的な位置付けがよく似ているという理由でETHに明確に連動していました。 “ “マーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主な影響
取引所への上場
取引所は仮想通貨が最も取引される場所ですので、取引所へのコインの上場、あるいは上場廃止は、価格に非常に大きく影響します。 仮想通貨プロジェクトは、それぞれの取引所へ上場するための一連の特別な手続きに従う必要があります。コインを取り扱う取引所が増えれば増えるほど、そのコインのプロジェクトの信頼が確立され、またプロジェクトの露出がより増えるため、仮想通貨投資家はより多くの取引所へコインが上場されることを望みます。上場される取引所が大きければ大きいほど、上場されたとき、あるいは上場廃止になった時の価格への影響も大きくなります。
プロジェクトの開発
トークンあるいは仮想通貨が特定の業種や業界内でのその規模を成長させるにつれて、開発のロードマップや開発計画は、価格に影響を与える重要な要素となります。ハードフォークやWegWitなどのイベントは、注目を集める重要な開発工程です。すべての仮想通貨プロジェクトは、投資家や世間一般に向けたニュースの配布のためのＰＲ機能を持ちます。 Coinmarketcap（コインマーケットキャップ）は、そのような情報を受け取るためには優れたサイトです。最新ニュース、Gryptotalk.orgフォーラムの投稿、ニュースリポートなどを得る事ができます。CoinMarketCalendarもまた仮想通貨関連イベントを確認するのに役立つサイトです。 “ “ーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主な影響
プロジェクトの特徴
価値を高めるために役立つお金の最も重要な資質は「不足」です。同様に、トークンの総発行量はその欠乏を明確にし、価値に影響し、トークンの価格を大きく左右します。何十億ものコインを発行しているプロジェクトがいくつかあります。Digibyte(DGB)のようなコインは、1-1000サトシの間で変動し、それ以上になったことはありません。
コミュニティの浸透度
仮想通貨の価格は、多くの部分が市場の心理によって決定され、トークンが一定の価値があると投資家に信じられていることによって支えられています。仮想通貨プロジェクトは、仮想通貨投資家のコミュニティ内でよい評価を得て維持することを確実にするために、相当の努力と時間を使うことを必要とされます。
投資家は、マーケットにおいてトークンの究極的な運命と価格を決定します。デジタル資産、仮想通貨、あるいはトークンが伝統的な資産、たとえばアップル社の株式などとは異なることを思い出してください。なぜなら、仮想通貨はキャッシュフローや、価格の適正性を計算する資産に裏付けられているわけではないからです。仮想通貨の市場価値は、現在の価格よりも価値が高いと信じて買う投資家の信頼が全てです。 “ “マーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主な影響＃4
チームメンバー チームに参加している人々は、それぞれ独自の性格、適性、そして人生を持っています。理想的には、彼らはそれぞれ高い評価を得て、プロジェクトに貢献するでしょう。素晴らしいプロフィールを持ち、高く評価されたメンバーがプロジェクトに参加すること、トークン価格に良い影響をもたらします。もし、チームに高い評価を得ている、またはビジネスで成功した経歴のある人物が参加していることを知れば、投資家はプロジェクトに対して安心と確信を感じることでしょう。
ロジャー・バー（Roger Ver）は、顕著な例です。彼はビットコインの初期の賛同者で、ビットコインのブロックチェーンがハードフォークしてビットコインキャッシュが誕生したときの中心人物の一人でした。ロジャー・バーのような重要人物の参加とサポートがあったために、ビットコインキャッシュは強い注目を集め、高い評価を得る事が出来たといっても過言ではないでしょう。
ウィルス対策ソフトで有名なMcAffee（マカフィー）のジョン・マカフィー（John McAfee）も、市場に影響を与える力を持つ人物です。2017年の年末にかけて、いくつかの特定の仮想通貨に対してキャンペーンを開始しました。彼は、市場に対して大がかりなHypePRを起こし、VergeはBittrexで1200 サトシまで急上昇しました。彼は同じ手法を他のコインにも仕掛け、取引所に上場されているコインにダンピングして合法的に大きな利益を得て、それに対して人々が非難をし始めるまで、繰り返し行いました。 “ “マーケットへのニュースとゴシップの影響 主な影響＃5
政府の意向 もちろん、仮想通貨エコシステム全体と、全ての仮想通貨は、新しいイノベーションを含んでいます。ほとんどの国の法整備に関連する人たちは、包括的な法整備を行うため、ただし技術のイノベーションや進歩を破壊するためでも、不必要に遅らせるためでもなく、適切なマーケットを育成するための試みをいまだに続けています。たとえば、中国政府が、金融の安定性も、社会の動揺も無視して仮想通貨を弾圧したときには、全ての仮想通貨の価格はかつてないほど暴落しました。国民が、中国政府は市場から中国人投資家と採掘者を退場させるのではないかと心配したからです。
仮想通貨は、中央の権力により規制されておらず、コントロールもされていないと言えるでしょう。しかし、仮想通貨に投資したり、市場に参加している個々人は、政府や当局によって制定された全ての種類の法律と規制の影響を直接的にも間接的にも受けています。投資家は、仮想通貨に関連したニュース、や、突然のあるいは極端な投資家心理の変化に翻弄されないように、常に関心を持ち続ける必要があります。 “ “ビットコイン 相場の詳細な歴史
仮想通貨は、ビットコインのイノベーションと発表と供に、世界中の人々の関心を引きました。仮想通貨の研究は1990年代までさかのぼります。Cypherpunkのグループが今日の多くの仮想通貨の基礎となっている、特別なアイデア、原理、基礎技術を提供しました。
もし、あなたがBitcoinとはなにかという根本的な問題を理解したいのならば、ビットコインがどこから来たのかを知ることが役に立つでしょう。HASHCASHを作ったAdam Back、Bit Gold を造ったNick Szabo、Digicash のDavid Chaum、B moneyの Wei Dai、RPOWの Hal Finney、彼らのプロジェクトは暗号化通貨を徐々に光の当たる場所へと導きました。そして、少し遅れてビットコインが暗号化通貨の仲間入りをし、今日の仮想通貨産業の代表になりました。
2009年1月に発行された直後、１ビットコインの価格は0.00076USドルでした（８銭程度）、そして最初のビットコインのトランザクションは、サトシ・ナカモトとHal Finneyの間で発生しました。2010年２月６日にDWDOLLARと呼ばれる最初のビットコインの取引所がオープンし、そのときの価格は0.001ドルでした（11銭程度）。
2010年３月22日とても有名な出来事が起こりました。ある男性が、1万ビットコイン（当時25ドル相当）でピザ２枚を買いました。これが、記念すべきBTが最初に現実世界で利用された取引の例となりました。その７か月後にはビットコイン価格は32倍上昇し、0.08ドルで年末を迎えることとなります。聞くまでもないことですが、今日もらえるなら、ピザとビットコイン、どちらが欲しいでしょうか？ “ “ビットコイン 相場の詳細な歴史§2
The Silk RoadはRoss Ulbrichtによって設立され、2011年1月1日にオープンし、オープン当時の価格は１ビットコイン0.32USドルでした。11年3月6日、Jeb McCallebはMt.GoxをMark Karpelesへ売却しました。この時のビットコイン価格は0.88ドルです。4月23日までに、BTCとユーロのペアのレートは１ビットコインが1ユーロの値を付けます。
翌日の4月24日に、Erik VoorheesがSATOSHIDICEを開始したとき、１ビットコインは1.63USDになり、同年６月までにビットコイン価格は10ドルまで急上昇します。
2013年2月に、1ビットコインは30.26ドルでしたが、上昇を続けて13年3月28日は86.18ドルになります。ビットコインの市場の時価総額は10億USDを記録しました。Erik VoorheesはSATOSHIDICEを11万5千USDで売却しました（約12億７千万円）。
双子のWinklevoss兄弟は、ビットコインが120ドルのときに、BitInstant 150万ドルを投資しました。2013年８月、テキサス州の司法がビットコインを通貨であると規定し、ブルームバーグが金融商品の一覧に「BTC」を加えた直後から、価格は急上昇をはじめ13年12月に約1,200ドル（約13万円）に到達します。
Mt.Goxの2014年の悪名高いハッキング事件は、ビットコインのコミュニティに激震をもたらした大きな事件のひとつです。しかし、2017年12月まで数年間、引き続きビットコインは上昇を続け、ついに最高値の約１万９千５百ドル（約220万円）に到達します。 BTC取引はその年の年末まで、劇的な価格の上昇を示します。これが、BTCの価格変動の研究でテクニカル分析をする上で最も重要なトレンドのパターンです。 “ “ビットコイン 主要な価格変動
ここで、BTCの価格に影響を及ぼす特別な要素と、その背景にあるボラティリティーや取引量について考えてみましょう。
テクニカル分析では、BTCトレードの最初の数年間は、「エキサイトステージ」と呼ばれます。ビットコインと、ブロックチェーンは、金融と技術の双方にブレークスルーを起こした驚異的なイノベーションであり、その価格は人々が望むだけ上昇し続けることができ、天井知らずでした。信者にとっては、ビットコインとブロックチェーンの潜在能力はほぼ無限だったのです。
しかしながら、上記のチャートで見られた、価格を押し下げるいくつかの大きな問題が存在しました。チャーリー・シュレム（Charlie Shrem： BitInstantのCEOで共同設立者）はマネーロンダリングの容疑がかけられました。シルクロード（Silk Road） はビットコインを用いた売買が可能な便利なオンラインマーケットウェブサイトでしたが、不法な取引の手段として人々が麻薬やその他の違法品を買うことが出来たサイトでもあり、様々な社会的議論を呼びました。そして、2014年に、当時世界最大の取引所であり、取引量の70％を占めていたMt.Goxの破産と法廷論争に発展したBTCの不正引出し事件が起こりました。
2017年の爆発的なブル・ランと、その後の暴落は、2018年の前半に前代未聞のボラティリティーを示しました。自分を取り巻く状況を理解するよりも早く相場は変動し、幸運によって大金を得、またそれによって失い、多くの人々が翻弄されました。人々は2017年末には20,000ドルを１ビットコインに支払い、2018年にはたった3分の1で売却しました。 “ “ビットコイン マーケット全体への影響
ビットコインは市場の現在価値が最も高い仮想通貨であり、主要な取引所で最も活溌に取引されているコインです。実際、ほとんどの取引所ではビットコイン以外の仮想通貨も、Satoshiで価値を計算しています。
多くのテクニカルのアナリストは、ビットコインがいつブル・ランするかに言及していますが、市場には多くのマイナス要素があります。
システムの外側から、そして他の仮想通貨からビットコインへ資金を移す事による、ビットコインのパンプが起こった結果です。
しかし、ビットコイン価格の動向に有効的に連動するいくつかの仮想通貨もあります。 市場総額でトップ５からトップ10にランクされるような、他の主要仮想通貨はビットコイン価格が上がったときは同時に上がり、逆もまた同様です。ビットコイン価格が下落すると、他の主要通貨はそれ以上の下落をします。
行動予想の観点から見ると、いくつかの検討すべき重要な理由があります。仮想通貨市場に流れ込むお金の大部分は、一般投資家と洗練されたプロの投資家のどちらかを問わず、ビットコインとイーサリアムと、リップルで構成されています。 これらのコインの価格が高く評価されているときは、市場を非常に上昇させる効果をもたらします。全ての仮想通貨の投資家も同様です。彼等の投資が上がったとき、下がったとき、彼等は同じ感情、同じ欲望、同じ恐怖に悩まされます。彼等は、熱狂的になり、鬱にもなります。 “ “ビットコイン 主な歴史
ここでは、ビットコインの歴史における４つの主要な時代に焦点を当てましょう。
仮想通貨取引所 Mt.Goxの倒産
取引所の運営から得られる利益を目当てに、Mark Karpeles（マーク・カルプレス）はMt.Gox(マウント・ゴックス)の経営権を買いました。彼は、仮想通貨関連の技術について経験がなく、セキュリティーを確実にするために必要なお金を投資することについて興味を持ちませんでした。最後の不正な引出しが起きる前にも、３件の同様な、しかし少額の不正アクセスが起きていました。最後の不正引出しが起き、数千の人々は「ビットコインがもはやそこには存在しない」ことに突然気付きました。この出来事は、全ての仮想通貨コミュニティとブロックチェーンのエコシステムに信じられないほどのパニックを引き起こしました。
ビットコイン価格は直ちに1,200ドルから120ドルまで暴落しました。まるで、銀行が倒産したかのように。考えられない出来事でしたが、実際に怒ったことです。投資家の心理には、致命的な一撃でした。ニュースのヘッドラインは「仮想通貨は安全ではない」「セキュリティーが存在しない」そして「ビットコインは危険だ」という見出しで埋め尽くされました。
www.ubai.coでもっと見る！
“ “ビットコイン 主な歴史
チャーリー・シュレムの詐欺
Charlie Shrem（チャーリー・シュレム）はビットコイン財団の副理事であり、BitInstantのCEO兼共同設立者でした。シュレムの取引所は、買手と売手のマッチングのみをサポートしていましたが、彼はどうやら投資家へのBTCの販売も行っていたようです。徹底した調査の結果、彼は様々な不正行為の中心人物であったことが明るみに出ました。彼は、The Silk Roadで非合法な闇市場の運営に関わっていました。FBIにThe Silk Roadが閉鎖されたとき、関係者は逮捕され起訴されましたが、それ以上に仮想通貨市場のイメージに大きな被害を与えました。
一応はビットコイン財団という素晴らしい団体の副理事を務めていたこの囚人のおかげで、不法取引のためにどのようにビットコインと仮想通貨が用いられたか、という数多くの話が飛び交いました。この類の話は、仮想通貨のイメージと価値を害し、市場に参加しようとしていた潜在的な多くの投資家に投資を躊躇させました。この初期のネガティブなイメージは、世間一般の仮想通貨の受入れを遅らせ、BTCと他の仮想通貨の価格を抑制しました。
続きはwww.ubai.coでご覧ください！” “ビットコイン 主な歴史
SegWit の適用
これは少々技術的な問題ですが、あるひとつの開発工程がBTCの価格変動に大きな影響を与え、また他の仮想通貨にも同様に影響しました。2017年の年末に向けて、ビットコインのブロックチェーンでSegWitの適用に対する激しい批判もありました。 SegWitは Segregated Witnessの略であり、オリジナルのブロックチェーンに影響を与えたブロックチェーンの改定であり、またビットコインのハードフォークの原因になりました。
後ほど、Bitcoin Cash、Bitcoin Goldなどのいくつかのハードフォークに言及しますが、SegWitのフォークが起きたとき、開発チームの一部の中心人物達は、それがあまりに早く進行したことでコミュニティを混乱に陥れた結果になったために、批判的でした。 特にビットコインのマイニングをしていた人達は、修正されたブロックチェーンに適応するようマイニングプログラムを変更する必要があるにもかかわらず、そのための十分な時間が与えられなかったために大いに落胆しました。 このような理由により、メインチェーンで起こったこのフォークは、BTC価格に暴落を起こしました。 このような技術的な問題は、投資家にリスクをもたらし続けるでしょうし、急激な価格の上下を引き起こし、ボラティリティーをより高める燃料になり得ます。
The Silk Rad (シルクロード)
The Silk Road（ザ・シルクロード）は、ロス・ウルブリヒト（Ross Ulbrict）によって設立され、 2011年から2013年まで運営されていました。Silk Roadが世界に向けてオープンしたときは、eBay（イーベイ）のような、違法な商品サービスを仮想通貨で売買できる、匿名のオンラインマーケットでした。
面白いことに、シルクロードで、麻薬、拳銃、暗殺、その他のありとあらゆる売買を行っていた中心人物がFBIに起訴されたとき、この短期間でシルクロードは10億USD（110億円）近くの売上を作っていました。当時、このニュースは世界で最も大きな話題のひとつでした。 “ “価格形成の例
ここまでで私達は、ビットコインの黎明期から始まり、２万ドルを少し下回る水準で取引されていた2017年後半のブル・ランの劇的なピークの出現までの、一連の一般的な歴史を学びました。
この空前絶後の価値の急騰は、世界を震撼させたと言っても過言ではないでしょう。ここからは、ビットコイン投資の全歴史の概要と、全てのストーリーを読みましょう。これは、巨額のお金の流入と、感情を揺さぶるニュースと、ビットコインを入手するためならいくらでも払うと思わせたFOMOによって牽引された想像も付かないようなブル・ランのストーリーです。 “ “価格形成の例 §2
2018年４月12日、マーケットへ膨大な量の新しい資金が流入した結果、ビットコイン価格は普通では考えられないほど突然上昇しました。しかし、最初は、多くの人々は、価格上昇の背景になにがあるのかを理解できていませんでした。重要なニュースは何もなく、個人投資家は既に興味を失っており、ビットコインは一定額まで下落しつづけるだろうと思われていました。
日が経つにつれ、投資家は徐々に何が起こったのかを理解し始めました。4月12日に、ビットコインを購入しようとする機関投資家の巨大資金が押し寄せたのだろうと確信しました。伝統的なヘッジファンド、投資銀行、あるいはベンチャーキャピタルに関連した機関投資家の資金が動いたと予想されています。 多くの仮想通貨コミュニティにとって、この日は伝統的金融世界から仮想通貨が受入れられた瞬間となりました。伝統的金融世界は、ビットコインを買うために非常に巨大な資金を投入したのです。この確認された機関投資家の資金はビットコイン価格の下落を阻止してつなぎ止める一助となりました。 “ “イーサリアム 詳細な歴史
仮想通貨は、金融革命を引き起こすほどの世界の変化を追求して、誕生以来何度も何度も繰り返しチャレンジを続けてきました。いくつもの仮想通貨が、異なる目的や異なる技術とともに出現しましたが、一方で、ビットコインの初期の目的を未だに志しています。
イーサリアムは、そのネットワーク上でのスマートコントラクトを特徴とする、オープンソースのブロックチェーンネットワークです。この機能は、イーサリアムの技術に基づいた、Dappsと呼ばれる非中央集権型アプリケーションを開発することを可能にしています。 イーサリアムプロジェクトは、全ての仮想通貨エコシステムのプロジェクトの中で最も持続可能なプロジェクトのひとつであることは確実です。
イーサリアムはICO時の価格が0.311ドルでスタートし、５千万トークンがICO中に販売されました。2015年８月７日、イーサリアムは流通市場 にて＄2.83で取引が始まりましたが、同日中に＄2.77に落ちました。
ETHの価格は、2016年１月に上昇に転じるまで、上場日以降の５ヶ月間は下落を続け、ようやく新しいATH（All – Time High 期間中最高値）である＄2.97に２月８日に到達しました。上記のチャートは、１年間で２ドルから５ドルまでのレンジで推移したことを示しています。そして2017年３月12日、ETHは21.46ドルで取引され、５月20日までに100ドルを超えました。 イーサリアムはその後も下落することなく、100ドルを超えた後は2018年1月14日にATH 1,397ドルに達しています。 “ “イーサリアム 特筆すべき歴史
イーサリアムは、独立した仮想通貨として、価格の推移に数々の特筆すべき出来事を経験しています。このレッスンでは、BTCに比べて、ETHの詳細についてそれほど多くを語ってはいませんが、ETHの価格推移の歴史についてもきちんと学ぶ必要がある事は間違いありません。
最も有名な最近の出来事に1つは「the ramp」です。2017年８月の第２週、イーサリアムは300から400USドルまで僅か数日で一気に上昇しました。その後の数ヶ月間は、ETHは重要な技術的障壁を破ることに悩まされたため、価格上昇は一段落しました。そして、11月の終わりに向けてそれは突然はじけて、取引量の巨大な変動と、BTC価格との連動を伴って、800ドルを超えました。
最近、2018年４月１日、イーサリアムは、年初来最低価格である359.22ドルまで下落しています。（そして、これを書いている８月14日は、さらに低い価格です）
ETHは歴史的にBTCの価格と強い相関関係を維持していましたが、2018年中盤では、ビットコインとイーサリアムの価格連動性はやや弱くなっています。しかし将来、我々はBTCの下落を見ることになるかもしれませんし、しかしETHはその価格を維持するかもしれませんし、あるいはさらにどちらも暴騰するかもしれません。 “ “リップル 詳細な歴史
リップル（XRP）はこのレッスンで学ぶべきTop３の主要仮想通貨の３番手です。この通貨は、銀行間決済をもっと早く実行することを目的にデザインされ、2012年に発行されました。 XRPは0.005874ドルで2013年８月4日に始まり、2018年１月８日には3.36ドルまで上昇しました。 市場全体の弱気の雰囲気によって、XRPの価格は0.586198まで大幅な下落を示しています。そして2018年８月14日の今日は、さらに悪い結果になっており、0.265030ドルで取引され、市場の時価総額は10,434,885,990USDです。
主要な価格の推移
このボラティリティーの程度は、リップルに対して大きな議論を呼んでいます。何故なら、リップルは劇的な価値の下落を起こしたからです。多くの評論家が納得のいく回答を出せないままでいます。価格が不自然に上昇し、そしてダンプが起きるという減少が何度も起きています。リップルについて、多くの批判とネガティブな意見があります。ある人々は、リップルは銀行間取引システムで使われるものなので、銀行が自身の利益を守る為にリップルをハイジャックしているから、リップルは嫌われているのだ、とまで言いっています。
XRPの価格に影響する、解決の難しい他の要素は、リップルの中央集権的な体制が仮想通貨コミュニティの多くのメンバーにとって受入れにくいという問題です。 言い換えると、リップルは、仮想通貨のいくつかの基本原則を無視しているということです。仮想通貨は非中央集権的であるべきという視点が、そうではない一プルに対して、人々の疑問となっているのです。 すべての授業を受講いただければ、噂やゴシップが市場に及ぼす影響について理解を深めることができます。
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Total Market Cap, as of 03.15.19 at 12:00pm (PST): $137,576,523,635 (+2.79%)

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STORY OF THE WEEK

•Cosmos, a blockchain interoperability project has released its platform dubbed “Cosmos Hub”. This comes after 3 years of planning and development and a $16,000,000 USD raise in 2017. The platform aims to solve scalability of distributed technology by proposing a platform of blockchains.

CRYPTOCURRENCY TRADING SERVICES

•Traders on Coinbase can now transfer cryptocurrency directly from its trading platform to the institution’s custodial wallet offering Coinbase Wallet.
•Coinbase Pro, Coinbase’s professional platform lists Stellar Lumens for trading.
•New Zealand based exchange Cryptopia migrates 35% of the platform’s funds into new wallets.
•DX Exchange, an Estonia based exchange utilizing Nasdaq’s trading engine launches security token offering (STO) listings.
•Trust Wallet, Binance’s endorsed wallet now supports Ripple (XRP). Traders and developers building on top of Trust Wallet can take advantage of the support of the Ripple ecosystem.
•Hong Kong based exchange Gatecoin shuts down as a result of a legal dispute with a payment processor and a devastating 185,000 ETH and 250 BTC hack in 2016.

REGULATION

•In the U.S state of Texas, a bill has been proposed to require identity verification for sending cryptocurrency payments.
•Central bank of Russia aims to introduce an annual limit of 600,000 rubles ($9,100 USD) for unqualified investors who want to purchase digital assets.
•Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the decision to create a portal for regulated ICO’s.
•Singaporean based exchange Quoine has been found liable by the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) for reversing 7 trades from market maker B2C2 in April 2017. Trades were valued at 10 Bitcoins per 1 Ethereum.
•The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) is now seeking regulatory input on cryptocurrency exchanges, in an attempt to integrate securities laws where appropriate.
•In the U.S state of Colorado, governor Jared Polis has signed the Digital Token Act on March 8th, 2019. This will exempt specific cryptocurrencies with specific characteristics and functionality from being classified as a security.

TECHNOLOGY

•Tether has recently updated terms of service which will shift its reserves from 100% traditional currency (USD) to a combination of traditional currency and cash equivalent assets such as loans.
•Samsung unveils a native cryptocurrency wallet for its flagship S10 device that can be found on the Samsung Galaxy Store. Wallet will support Ether (ETH) and ERC20 based tokens alongside 4 dApps from the outset.
•MyEtherWallet launches an alpha version of its Ethereum blockchain explorer, EthVM. INSTITUTIONALIZATION
•Kakao Corp, the creators of KakaoTalk – South Korea’s most used messaging app raises $90 million USD to supplement the launch of a new blockchain platform in June dubbed “Klaytn”.
•A blockchain based ETF, consisting of 48 companies involved or building blockchain technology has launched on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
•Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announces that it will not add a Bitcoin (BTC) futures market in March.

PEOPLE

•Mark Karpeles, the CEO of Mt Gox faces a 10-year jail term from the Japanese authorities for embezzlement of client assets.
•Danelle Dixon has been appointed the new CEO of the Stellar Foundation, previously COO of Mozilla.
•Konstantin Ignatov, CEO of multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme OneCoin has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Ignatov’s sister, Ruja Ignatov is charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

TWITTER

•@cz_binance – “Populaunpopular opinion: Everyone will be in crypto, sooner or later, whether they know it or not, whether you like it or not.”
•@barrysilbert – “Wells Fargo, a Buffett investment, has been fined 93 times for fraud and other abuses, for a total of $14.8 billion in fines since just 2000. I'll take bitcoin's "charlatans" over that any day.”
•@erikVoorhees – “Crypto is software eating finance”

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What a Blockchain Wallet is? What is its purpose?
Find the answer after reading this article.
Public/Private Key
The public key is the digital code you give to someone that wants to transfer ownership of a unit of cryptocurrency to you; and a private key is what you need to be able to unlock your own wallet to transfer a unit of a cryptocurrency to someone else. The encoding of information within a wallet is done by the private and public keys. That is the main component of the encryption that maintains the security of the wallet. Both keys function in simultaneous encryption systems called symmetric and asymmetric encryption. The former, alternatively known as private key encryption, makes use of the same key for encryption and decryption. The latter, asymmetric encryption, utilizes two keys, the public and private key, wherein a message-sender encrypts the message with the public key, and the recipient decodes it with their private key. The public key uses asymmetric algorithms that convert messages into an unreadable format. A person who possesses a public key can encrypt the message for a specific receiver.
Accessing wallets
Methods of wallet access vary depending on the type of wallet being used. Various types of currency wallets on an exchange will normally be accessed via the exchange’s entrance portal, normally involving a combination of a username/password and optionally, 2FA (Two factor authentication, which we explain in more detail later). Whereas hardware wallets need to be connected to an internet enabled device, and then have a pin code entered manually by the user in possession of the hardware wallet in order for access to be gained. Phone wallets are accessed through the device on which the wallet application has been downloaded. Ordinarily, a passcode and/or security pattern must be entered before entry is granted, in addition to 2FA for withdrawals.
Satoshi Nakamoto built the Satoshi client which evolved into Bitcoin in 2009. This software allowed users to create wallets and send money to other addresses. However, it proved to be a nightmarish user experience, with many transactions being sent to incorrect addresses and private keys being lost. The MtGox (Magic the Gathering Online exchange, named after the original intended use of the exchange) incident, which will be covered in greater detail later, serves as a reminder of the dangers present in the cryptosphere regarding security, and the need to constantly upgrade your defenses against all potential hacks. The resulting loss of 850k BTC is a still unresolved problem, weighing heavily on the victims and the markets at large. This caused a huge push for a constantly evolving and improving focus on security. Exchanges that developed later, and are thus considered more legitimate and secure, such as Gemini and Coinbase, put a much greater emphasis on vigilance as a direct result of the MtGox hacking incident. We also saw the evolution of wallet security into the physical realm with the creation of hardware wallets, most notable among them the Ledger and Trezor wallets.
Types of Wallets & Storage Methods
The simplest way to sift through the dozens of cryptocurrency storage methods available today, is to divide them up into digital and non-digital, software and hardware wallets. There are also less commonly used methods of storage of private keys, like paper wallets and brain wallets. We will examine them all at least briefly, because in the course of your interaction with cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology, it is essential to master all the different types of hardware and software wallets. Another distinction must be made between hot wallets and cold wallets. A hot wallet is one that is connected to the internet, and a cold wallet is one that is not. Fun fact: The level below cold storage, deep cold storage has just recently been implemented by the Regal RA DMCC, a subsidiary of an internationally renowned gold trading company licensed in the Middle East. After having been granted a crypto trading license, Regal RA launched their “deep cold” storage solution for traders and investors, which offers the ability to store crypto assets in vaults deep below the Almas Tower in Dubai. This storage method is so secure that at no point is the vault connected to a network or the internet; meaning the owners of the assets can be sure that the private keys are known only to the rightful owners.
Lets take a quick look at specific features and functionality of varieties of crypto wallets. Software wallets: wallet applications installed on a laptop, desktop, phone or tablet. Web Wallets: A hot wallet by definition. Web Wallets are accessible through the web browser on your phone or computer. The most important feature to recognize about any kind of web wallet, is that the private keys are held and managed by a trusted third party. MyEtherWallet is the most commonly used non-exchange web wallet, but it can only be used to store Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens.
Though the avenue of access to MEW is through the web, it is not strictly speaking a web wallet, though this label will suffice for the time being. The MEW site gives you the ability to create a new wallet so you can store your ETH yourself. All the data is created and stored on your CPU rather than their servers. This makes MEW a hybrid kind of web wallet and desktop wallet. Exchange Wallets: A form of Web Wallet contained within an exchange. An exchange will hold a wallet for each individual variety of cryptocurrency you hold on that exchange. Desktop Wallets: A software program downloaded onto your computer or tablet hard drive that usually holds only one kind of cryptocurrency. The Nano Wallet (Formerly Raiwallet) and Neon wallet for storage of NEO and NEP-5 tokens are notable examples of desktop wallets Phone Wallets: These are apps downloaded onto a mobile phone that function in the same manner as a desktop wallet, but actually can hold many different kinds of cryptocurrency. The Eidoo Wallet for storing Ethereum and its associated tokens and Blockchain Wallet which currently is configured to hold BTC, ETH and Bitcoin Cash, are some of the most widely used examples.
Hardware wallets — LedgeTrezoAlternatives
Hardware wallets are basically physical pathways and keys to the unique location of your crypto assets on the Blockchain. These are thought to be more secure than any variety of web wallet because the private key is stored within your own hard wallet, an actual physical device. This forcibly removes the risk your online wallet, or your exchange counter party, might be hacked in the same manner as MtGox. In hardware wallet transactions, the wallet’s API creates the transaction when a user requests a payment. An API is a set of functions that facilitates the creation of applications that interact and access features or data of an operating system. The hardware then signs the transaction, and produces a public key, which is given to the network. This means the signing keys never leave the hardware wallet. The user must both enter a personal identification number and physically press buttons on the hardware wallet in order to gain access to their Blockchain wallet address through this method, and do the same to initiate transfers.
Paper Wallets
Possibly the safest form of cryptocurrency storage in terms of avoiding hacking, Paper Wallets are an offline form of crypto storage that is free to set up, and probably the most secure way for users, from beginners to experts, to hold on to their crypto assets. To say it simply, paper wallets are an offline cold storage method of storing cryptocurrency. This includes actually printing out your public and private keys on a piece of paper, which you then store and save in a secure place. The keys are printed in the form of QR codes which you can scan in the future for all your transactions. The reason why it is so safe is that it gives complete control to you, the user. You do not need to worry about the security or condition of a piece of hardware, nor do you have to worry about hackers on the net, or any other piece of malware. You just need to take care of one piece of paper!
Real World Historical Examples of Different Wallet Types
Web Wallet: Blockchain.info Brief mechanism & Security Blockchain.info is both a cryptocurrency wallet, supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin cash, and also a block explorer service. The wallet service provided by blockchain.info has both a Web Wallet, and mobile phone application wallet, both of which involve signing up with an email address, and both have downloadable private keys. Two Factor Authentication is enabled for transfers from the web and mobile wallets, as well as email confirmation (as with most withdrawals from exchanges). Phone Wallet: Eidoo The Eidoo wallet is a multi-currency mobile phone app wallet for storage of Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens. The security level is the standard phone wallet level of email registration, confirmation, password login, and 2 factor authentication used in all transfers out. You may find small volumes of different varieties of cryptocurrencies randomly turning up in your Eidoo wallet address. Certain projects have deals with individual wallets to allow for “airdrops” to take place of a particular token into the wallet, without the consent of the wallet holder. There is no need to be alarmed, and the security of the wallet is not in any way compromised by these airdrops.
Neon Wallet
The NEON wallet sets the standard for web wallets in terms of security and user-friendly functionality. This wallet is only designed for storing NEO, Gas, and NEP-5 tokens (Ontology, Deep Brain Chain, RPX etc.). As with all single-currency wallets, be forewarned, if you send the wrong cryptocurrency type to a wallet for which it is not designed, you will probably lose your tokens or coins. MyEtherWallet My Ether Wallet, often referred to as MEW, is the most widely used and highly regarded wallet for Ethereum and its related ERC-20 tokens. You can access your MEW account with a hardware wallet, or a different program. Or you can also get access by typing or copying in your private key. However, you should understand this method is the least safe way possible,and therefore is the most likely to result in a hack. Hardware: TrezoLedger Brief History Mechanism and Security A hardware wallet is a physical key to your on-chain wallet location, with the private keys contained within a secure sector of the device. Your private key never leaves your hardware wallet. This is one of the safest possible methods of access to your crypto assets. Many people feel like the hardware wallet strikes the right balance between security, peace of mind, and convenience. Paper Wallet Paper wallets can be generated at various websites, such as https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/ and https://walletgenerator.net/. They enable wallet holders to store their private keys totally offline, in as secure a manner as is possible.
Real World Example — Poor Practices
MtGox Hack history effects and security considerations MtGox was the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world before it was hacked in 2014. They were handling over 70% of BTC transactions before they were forced to liquidate their business. The biggest theft of cryptocurrency in history began when the private keys for the hot wallets were stolen in 2011 from a wallet.dat file, possibly by hacking, possibly by a rogue employee. Over the course of the next 3 years the hot wallets were emptied of approximately 650000 BTC. The hacker only needed wallet.dat file to access and make transfers from the hot wallet, as wallet encryption was only in operation from the time of the Bitcoin 0.4.0 release on Sept 23rd 2011. Even as the wallets were being emptied, the employees at Mt Gox were apparently oblivious to what was taking place. It seems that Mt Gox workers were interpreting these withdrawals as large transfers being made to more secure wallets. The former CEO of the exchange, Mark Karpeles, is currently on trial for embezzlement and faces up to 5 years in prison if found guilty. The Mt Gox hack precipitated the acceleration of security improvements on other exchanges, for wallets, and the architecture of bitcoin itself. As a rule of thumb, no small-to-medium scale crypto holders should use exchange wallets as a long-term storage solution. Investors and experienced traders may do this to take advantage of market fluctuations, but exchange wallets are perhaps the most prone to hacking, and storing assets on exchanges for an extended time is one of the riskiest ways to hold your assets.
In a case strikingly similar to the MtGox of 2011–2014, the operators of the BitGrail exchange “discovered” that approximately 17 million XRB ($195 million worth in early 2018) were missing. The operators of the exchange were inexplicably still accepting deposits, long after they knew about the hack. Then they proceeded to block withdrawals from non-EU users. And then they even requested a hard fork of the code to restore the funds. This would have meant the entire XRB Blockchain would have had to accept all transactions from their first “invalid” transaction that were invalid, and rollback the ledger. The BitGrailexchange attempted to open operations in May 2018 but was immediately forced to close by order of the Italian courts. BitGrail did not institute mandatory KYC (Know your customer) procedures for their clients until after the theft had been reported, and allegedly months after the hack was visible. They also did not have 2 factor authentication mandatory for withdrawals. All big, and very costly mistakes.
Case Study: Good Practice Binance, the Attempted Hack
During the 2017 bull run, China-based exchange Binance quickly rose to the status of biggest altcoin exchange in the world, boasting daily volumes that surged to over $4 billion per day in late December. Unfortunately, this success attracted the attention of some crafty hackers. These hackers purchased domain names that were confusingly similar to “binance.com”. And then they created sufficiently convincing replica websites so they could phish traders for their login information. After obtaining this vital info, the scammers created API keys to place large buy orders for VIAcoin, an obscure, low volume digital currency. Those large buy orders spiked VIA’s price. Within minutes they traded the artificially high-priced VIA for BTC. Then they immediately made withdrawal requests from the hacked BTC wallets to wallets outside of the exchange. Almost a perfect fait accompli! But, Binance’s “automating risk management system” kicked in, as it should, and all withdrawals were temporarily suspended, resulting in a foiled hacking attempt.
Software Wallets Web/Desktop/Phone/Exchange Advantages and Limitations
As we said before, it is inadvisable to store crypto assets in exchange wallets, and, to a lesser extent, Web Wallets. The specific reason we say that is because you need to deliver your private keys into the hands of another party, and rely on that website or exchange to keep your private key, and thus your assets, safe. The advantages of the less-secure exchange or web wallets, are the speed at which you can transfer assets into another currency, or into another exchange for sale or for arbitrage purposes. Despite the convenience factor, all software wallets will at some point have been connected to the internet or a network. So, you can never be 100% sure that your system has not been infected with malware, or some kind of keylogging software, that will allow a third party to record your passwords or private keys. How well the type of storage method limits your contact with such hazards is a good way to rate the security of said variety of wallet. Of all the software wallets, desktop and mobile wallets are the most secure because you download and store your own private key, preferably on a different system. By taking the responsibility of private key storage you can be sure that only one person has possession of it, and that is you! Thereby greatly increasing the security of your crypto assets. By having their assets in a desktop wallet, traders can guard their private key and enjoy the associated heightened security levels, as well keep their assets just one swift transfer away from an exchange.
Hardware Wallets Advantages and Limitations
We briefly touched on the features and operation of the two most popular hardware wallets currently on the market, the Ledger and Trezor wallets. Now it will be helpful to take a closer look into the pros and cons of the hardware wallet storage method. With hardware wallets, the private keys are stored within a protected area of the microcontroller, and they are prevented from being exported out of the device in plain text. They are fortified with state-of-the-art cryptography that makes them immune to computer viruses and malware. And much of the time, the software is open source, which allows user validation of the entire performance of the device. The advantages of a hardware wallet over the perhaps more secure paper wallet method of crypto storage is the interactive user experience, and also the fact that the private key must at some stage be downloaded in order to use the paper wallet. The main disadvantage of a hardware wallet is the time-consuming extra steps needed to transfer funds out of this mode of storage to an exchange, which could conceivably result in some traders missing out on profits. But with security being the main concern of the vast majority of holders, investors and traders too, this slight drawback is largely inconsequential in most situations.
Paper Wallets Advantages and Limitations
Paper wallets are thought by some to be the safest way to store your crypto assets, or more specifically, the best method of guarding the pathways to your assets on the Blockchain. By printing out your private key information, the route to your assets on the Blockchain is stored 100% offline (apart from the act of printing the private key out, the entire process is totally offline). This means that you will not run the risk of being infected with malware or become the victim of keylogging scams. The main drawback of using paper wallets is that you are in effect putting all your eggs in one basket, and if the physical document is destroyed, you will lose access to your crypto assets forever.
Key things to keep in mind about your Wallet Security: Recovery Phrases/Private Key Storage/2FA/Email Security
Recovery phrases are used to recover the on-chain location for your wallet with your assets for hardware wallets like ledgers and Trezors that have been lost. When you purchase a new ledger for example, you just have to set it up again by entering the recovery phrase into the display and the lost wallets will appear with your assets intact. Private key storage is of paramount importance to maintain the safety of your on-chain assets! This should be done in paper wallet form, or stored offline on a different computer, or USB device, from the one you would typically use to connect to the 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) sometimes known as “two step authentication”. This feature offers an extra security layer when withdrawing funds from cryptocurrency wallets. A specialized app, most commonly Google Authenticator, is synced up to the exchange to provide a constantly changing code. This code must be entered within a short time window to initiate transfers, or to log into an exchange, if it has also been enabled for that purpose.
You must always consider the level of fees, or the amount of Gas, that will be needed to carry out the transaction. In times of high network activity Gas prices can be quite high. In fact, in December 2017 network fees became so high that some Bitcoin transactions became absolutely unfeasible. But that was basically due to the anomalous network congestion caused by frantic trading of Bitcoin as it was skyrocketing in value. When copying wallet addresses, double check and triple check that they are correct. If you make a mistake and enter an incorrect address, it is most likely your funds will be irretrievably lost; you will never see those particular assets again. Also check that you haven’t input the address of another one of your wallets that is designed to hold a different variety of cryptocurrency. You would similarly run the very great risk of losing your funds forever. Or, at the very least, if you have sent the wrong crypto to a large exchange wallet, for example on Coinbase, maybe you could eventually get those funds back, but it would still entail a long and unenjoyable wait.
How to Monitor Funds
There are two ways to monitor you funds and your wallets. The first is by searching for individual wallet addresses on websites specifically designed to let you view all the transactions on a particular Blockchain. The other is to store a copy of your wallet contents on an application that tracks the prices of all cryptocurrencies. Blockchain.info is the block explorer for Bitcoin, and it allows you to track all wallet movements so you can view your holdings and all the historical transactions within the wallet. The Ethereum blockchain’s block explorer is called Ether scanner, and it functions in the same way. There is a rival to Ether scanner produced by the Jibrel Network, called JSearch which will be released soon. JSearch will aim to offer a more streamlined and faster search method for Ethereum blockchain transactions. There are many different kinds of block explorer for each individual crypto currency, including nanoexplorer.io for Nano (formerly Rai Blocks) and Neotracker for NEO. If you simply want to view the value of your portfolio, the Delta and Blockfolio apps allow you to easily do that. But they are not actually linked to your specific wallet address, they just show price movements and total value of the coins you want to monitor.
That’s not all! You can learn how to transfer and monitor the funds in and out of your wallet by clicking on the link.
To be continued!
UBAI.co
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Period: 1781.72 days

	Submissions	Comments
Total	1000	66504
Rate (per day)	0.56	37.31
Unique Redditors	546	7216
Combined Score	190256	613696

Top Submitters' Top Submissions

1. 4165 points, 23 submissions: Tomatoshi
   
   1. Cryptocurrency Euthanasia Coaster (489 points, 127 comments)
   2. Mark Karpeles states Bitcoin has failed and is useless. (273 points, 95 comments)
   3. Vergin comedy gold leaks ahead of announcement (241 points, 159 comments)
   4. Incredibly "organic" pump minutes before Tether prints $300 million (237 points, 82 comments)
   5. In today's Creepto News : McAfee's Underground King of ICO analysts apparently a pedo (230 points, 99 comments)
   6. Dying Butter attempts to dox imaginary assassin. Gives him an imaginary name and non-existent address. (215 points, 70 comments)
   7. Back under 8K. Shall I get rid of my fiat? (210 points, 86 comments)
   8. President Maduro's computer hacked. Exit scam image discovered. (205 points, 12 comments)
   9. Come all ye faithful and get rekt margin trading (185 points, 59 comments)
   10. Lightning Network upgraded - super efficient diagram of super efficient payment channels running on top of super efficient blockchain (183 points, 73 comments)
2. 2691 points, 10 submissions: Orbalisks
   
   1. Debating Bitcoin (747 points, 114 comments)
   2. 1 Bitcoin transaction uses over four times as much energy as 100,000 VISA transactions (492 points, 150 comments)
   3. Remember that model that the Bitcoin crowd constantly mocked? Turns out it was pretty much spot on... (346 points, 90 comments)
   4. MRW I see butters describing how they lost 40% on Verge so they went all in on Tron but lost another 30% so they went back to Bitcoin but are down 25% (216 points, 38 comments)
   5. The Parable of the Bagholder (201 points, 14 comments)
   6. Then they came for me (161 points, 18 comments)
   7. First. Global. Currency. (148 points, 55 comments)
   8. Verge creator desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to cash out into USD on Coinbase; notes that "taxes are due"--an observation that conspicuously coincides with Verge's enigmatic crowdfunding campaign (143 points, 34 comments)
   9. Butter shares comical chart suggesting that Bitcoin is destined for 100% adoption, despite the fact that the chart both misrepresents how long Bitcoin has been around for and already shows that it is not being adopted as quickly as other technologies (120 points, 76 comments)
   10. First you pump, then you dump (117 points, 25 comments)
3. 2556 points, 15 submissions: dgerard
   
   1. The OKEx margin trading disaster — how crypto margin trading goes wrong, and how the eye-watering margin leverage on crypto exchanges works in practice (306 points, 212 comments)
   2. "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain" is OUT NOW! (284 points, 98 comments)
   3. Reuters on OTC markets: "Less romantically, traders sometimes say 'butt' to mean bitcoin." we did it lads, be proud (268 points, 17 comments)
   4. How does Brave's "Basic Attention Token" work? By blatant fraud, of course! Twitter thread from one creator whose name and photo Brave is misusing (192 points, 173 comments)
   5. bullish on USD. it is clear USD is increasingly popular with past hodlers of the deprecated bit-Coin. USD has gone up hugely in just the past day against the b.t.C!! in the future it is posible with enough imagination that the US economy could run on USD ! in conclusion you should get into currency (186 points, 26 comments)
   6. Twitter thread of Bitcoin price predictions (164 points, 30 comments)
   7. "Kodak board members conveniently grant themselves shares the day before the announcement, a stock promoter with a checkered past is engaged for PR, and a group of German copyright trolls reinvent themselves as blockchain-enabled image platform managers." A scathing hedge-fund report on KodakCoin. (157 points, 44 comments)
   8. MERL Tech: Blockchain for International Development. "We documented 43 blockchain use-cases ... no documentation or evidence of the results blockchain was purported to have achieved in these claims ... Not one was willing to share data on program results." (143 points, 44 comments)
   9. Bitcoin’s stupendous power waste is green, apparently — bad excuses for Proof-of-Work [by me] (133 points, 112 comments)
   10. Bitcoin continues to be awesome for renewable energy! - "Bitcoin backlash as ‘miners’ suck up electricity, stress power grids in Central Washington" (130 points, 39 comments)
4. 2541 points, 10 submissions: borderpatrol
   
   1. Buttcoin Foundation ROCKED as founder exposed to be PAID SHILL for Butterfly Labs (1269 points, 553 comments)
   2. Stop with the political and racist garbage (177 points, 119 comments)
   3. To the person who reports every single chart posted in this sub as "not a fucking log chart" (167 points, 40 comments)
   4. WE DID IT REDDIT! (166 points, 55 comments)
   5. Someone finally said "Buttcoin". And it's William Shatner (156 points, 39 comments)
   6. My new Bitcoin commercial idea. (140 points, 21 comments)
   7. Let's welcome /Buttcoin's newest honorary member of the mod/shill team, Peter Todd! (125 points, 54 comments)
   8. Satoshi Nakamoto is an anagram of "So a man took a shit." (118 points, 16 comments)
   9. Guess which convicted felon just fucked over another Bitcoin business? (112 points, 31 comments)
   10. You guys are the best (111 points, 81 comments)
5. 2509 points, 12 submissions: JihanButt
   
   1. Hot (404 points, 19 comments)
   2. Made me check (and kek) (398 points, 49 comments)
   3. Mass adoption is here (257 points, 60 comments)
   4. New record for the fastest exit scam in human history (245 points, 23 comments)
   5. Meanwhile on 4chan bizbutt (210 points, 88 comments)
   6. TIL: Binance can exit scam at any given time and no one would be able to locate CZ or the Binance offices. Not even MtGOX was this shady. (200 points, 65 comments)
   7. Quality (172 points, 53 comments)
   8. Normies are shorting (137 points, 44 comments)
   9. CEO (lol) of shitcoin Titanium BUTT, high on cocaine during AMA (136 points, 16 comments)
   10. It begins... The biggest transfer of comedy gold in human history (122 points, 17 comments)
6. 2470 points, 12 submissions: unitedstatian
   
   1. I can't tell why but this ICO doesn't look trustworthy to me (369 points, 47 comments)
   2. Cryptocurrency (332 points, 26 comments)
   3. Has crypto become a giant joke? (311 points, 60 comments)
   4. A Buttcoiner going shopping (248 points, 37 comments)
   5. There is only a 1% chance of successfully routing a $67 payment on the lightning network (229 points, 71 comments)
   6. Comedy gold over at bitcoin (179 points, 54 comments)
   7. The Four Commandments (148 points, 65 comments)
   8. Behold LN in it's full glory as two users fail to send a meager 100 Sats through a high liquidity hub (Bitrefill) due to poor route computation. (146 points, 76 comments)
   9. Jimmy Song giving advice on how to use Bitcoin as a method of payment lol! (143 points, 57 comments)
   10. This is my new favorite ICO. (130 points, 94 comments)
7. 2037 points, 11 submissions: dyzo-blue
   
   1. Butter informs his tribe that he has decided to leave. Tribe kindly wishes him good luck and a happy new year. (510 points, 81 comments)
   2. STORE OF VALUE. (184 points, 32 comments)
   3. TIL: Apparently butters are mostly models who have meet-ups on boats. (167 points, 43 comments)
   4. Bitcoiner asked me if I was in the "crypto game" (165 points, 140 comments)
   5. Bitcoin’s energy consumption is growing at 20% per month and is effectively erasing decades of progress on renewable energy (160 points, 93 comments)
   6. Steve Bannon is creating a cryptocurrency to fund global fascist movements (155 points, 175 comments)
   7. Firesale! Firesale! All I see are CHEAP COINZ. (154 points, 130 comments)
   8. The electricity required for a single Bitcoin trade could power a house for a whole month (147 points, 81 comments)
   9. Who sees this pop-up and thinks, "Hmm, seems legit"? (146 points, 40 comments)
   10. From California's Governor Primary Ballot (126 points, 28 comments)
8. 2035 points, 13 submissions: 18_points
   
   1. BitGrail insolvency due to people editing client-side javascript and withdrawing free NANO! (279 points, 115 comments)
   2. Butter rushes to exchange his iMac for a MacBook hours before return policy expires, doesn't copy his wallet seed. $170K SFYL, mass adoption imminent. (205 points, 102 comments)
   3. LA Times: The only currency worse than bitcoin is Venezuela’s (176 points, 78 comments)
   4. Butter makes $1.2mm, quits his job, proceeds to lose 80% (175 points, 76 comments)
   5. Bitcoin.com openly admits Tethers are backed by nothing (158 points, 99 comments)
   6. Tether CFO: "Tether may no longer continue to use the US dollar anchor in the future." (152 points, 80 comments)
   7. Aaaand it's gone.... Stablecoin basis closes shup after raising $133 million (151 points, 61 comments)
   8. Guy travels abroad paying with bitcoin. Just kidding, he couldn't pay with bitcoin - best he could do after 2 days trying was trade bitcoin for cash 20% below spot. (138 points, 62 comments)
   9. Because this chart never gets old ... (126 points, 46 comments)
   10. Tether crashing on Kraken, down to $0.98 (125 points, 69 comments)
9. 1985 points, 6 submissions: cool_playa
   
   1. a shitcoin startup called Prodeum just exitscammed with millions of investor dollars and left them the following message on their site (1111 points, 170 comments)
   2. Cryptocurrencies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (256 points, 72 comments)
   3. Charlie Lee gets put in his place (185 points, 29 comments)
   4. Vitalik rethinks his stance as a Libertarian due to the current cryptocurrency ecosystem. Regulations are actually good he says. LMAO. (180 points, 86 comments)
   5. Twitter CEO says Bitcoin is the future / Twitter bans cryptocurrencies from advertising on their platform. (129 points, 11 comments)
   6. Bubble, Bubble, Fraud and Trouble - New York Times article (124 points, 81 comments)
10. 1916 points, 10 submissions: Cthulhooo
    
    1. Ladies and Gentlemen I have an innovative idea that will change the landscape of cryptospace forever. I present you the infinite reverse Ponzi scheme. (355 points, 237 comments)
    2. ETH is now officially a 2 digit shitcoin! (258 points, 110 comments)
    3. So this is how blood in the streets looks like... (215 points, 91 comments)
    4. Missed us? (211 points, 44 comments)
    5. The new paradigm (of spam) has arrived. (171 points, 45 comments)
    6. Attention all personnel. (168 points, 62 comments)
    7. Not only bloomberg or CNBC. Even national media all over the world are screaming about tether manipulation. This is good for buttcoin. (168 points, 42 comments)
    8. The biggest bagholders on the planet are actually institutions. Bought bitcoin for $40k (142 points, 44 comments)
    9. Millions of dollars stuck forever in a buttchain thanks to an international community effort to establish the largest comedy gold black hole up to date. (116 points, 28 comments)
    10. Smart ponzi FOMO3D round 1 ends way too early with a creative twist (112 points, 98 comments)

Top Commenters

1. SnapshillBot (15642 points, 683 comments)
2. Cthulhooo (11080 points, 1057 comments)
3. Tomatoshi (10485 points, 577 comments)
4. newprofile15 (7365 points, 477 comments)
5. jstolfi (7325 points, 766 comments)
6. JeanneDOrc (6318 points, 827 comments)
7. friosc (5326 points, 244 comments)
8. Woolbrick (5088 points, 318 comments)
9. Crypto_To_The_Core (4838 points, 678 comments)
10. HopeFox (4673 points, 331 comments)

Top Submissions

1. I'm having an orgasm watching the prices dropping - upvote if you're a sick a degenerate like me by deleted (1456 points, 340 comments)
2. Buttcoin Foundation ROCKED as founder exposed to be PAID SHILL for Butterfly Labs by borderpatrol (1269 points, 553 comments)
3. a shitcoin startup called Prodeum just exitscammed with millions of investor dollars and left them the following message on their site by cool_playa (1111 points, 170 comments)
4. And the returns have already begun. One person and a known reseller we get regularly. by cloud3514 (907 points, 278 comments)
5. c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e by brokenAmmonite (856 points, 125 comments)
6. U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation by BitcoinTrolling101 (761 points, 218 comments)
7. Debating Bitcoin by Orbalisks (747 points, 114 comments)
8. TIL bitcoin is called the currency of the future because all currency transactions are confirmed in the distant future. by Thief_1 (720 points, 37 comments)
9. M A T H E M A T I C A L L Y I M P O S S I B LE by NORATHEDESTROYER (693 points, 86 comments)
10. This is the best take of crypto-currency that I've ever seen. by deleted (689 points, 137 comments)

Top Comments

1. 1874 points: AlbertRammstein's comment in The OKEx margin trading disaster — how crypto margin trading goes wrong, and how the eye-watering margin leverage on crypto exchanges works in practice
2. 1263 points: Mike_Prowe's comment in Buttcoin Foundation ROCKED as founder exposed to be PAID SHILL for Butterfly Labs
3. 820 points: Slayer706's comment in Buttcoin Foundation ROCKED as founder exposed to be PAID SHILL for Butterfly Labs
4. 577 points: deleted's comment in The OKEx margin trading disaster — how crypto margin trading goes wrong, and how the eye-watering margin leverage on crypto exchanges works in practice
5. 571 points: cloud3514's comment in And the returns have already begun. One person and a known reseller we get regularly.
6. 496 points: SnapshillBot's comment in a shitcoin startup called Prodeum just exitscammed with millions of investor dollars and left them the following message on their site
7. 382 points: vytah's comment in Holy Satoshi! Butter pays 85Btc transaction fees for a 16Btc transaction. Is this the largest fee ever paid?
8. 380 points: Tomatoshi's comment in It's already happening. GPU market is about to get really hot.
9. 361 points: ShiteFlaps's comment in Why are you guys such salty fks?
10. 331 points: -charlie-kelly-'s comment in a shitcoin startup called Prodeum just exitscammed with millions of investor dollars and left them the following message on their site

Generated with BBoe's Subreddit Stats (Donate)

Swap.Online delves into the background of centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges. As decentralization is our name for the game, we would primarily like to find out whether it was inevitable or not.

From Childhood to the Golden Age: DCEs and CEXs

The first centralized cryptocurrency exchanges had two main pre-historical roots of origin. Ideologically, they originated from the e-commerce exchange services of the early 2000s. Digital Currency Exchanges, or DCEs, were particularly popular in the U.S. and Australia. GoldAge Inc., E-Gold Inc., Liberty Reserve were frequently seen in the headlines mostly due to legal issues, as the U.S. SEC, as well as the Australian ASIC failed many times over to figure out whether the e-gold exchange was a form of banking, money laundering, non-licensed remittances or illegal entrepreneurship. These services exchanged fiat money on different digital currencies (1MDC, E-Gold, eCache etc.) and, in a way, fulfilled the demand of New World and EU citizens for anonymous transactions of digital and fiat money.
But, in fact, the first significant cryptocurrency exchange arose from a surprising source… The website of the online game “Magic: The Gathering Online”. This game’s name refers to a magical world, where the currency system is represented in the form of cards. Jed McCaleb, the programmer from San Francisco and future contributor for Ripple and Stellar, developed the Mt.Gox project with the purpose of trading these cards like traditional stocks. In January 2007, he purchased the domain name mtgox.com, but in 2008, he abandoned the project as a premature venture. One year later, he used this domain to advertise his own online game. In the year of 2010, he read about the concept of Bitcoin and decided to launch the Mt.Gox exchange and exchange rate service allowing to trade Bitcoin freely. The project was released on July 18, 2010.
Rapid commercial growth started when the product was sold to the French-Japanese developer Mark Karpeles in January 2011. It was the year 2011 when Mt.Gox demonstrated the main security challenges that traditional centralized exchanges will encounter all along their development path in the future. These included direct thefts from the platform’s wallets, attacks with multiple ‘ask’ orders, malefactor invasions resulting in price drops (one day, in the spring of 2011, 1 BTC was worth less than 0.01 USD) etc. By the way, the dramatic collapse of February 2014, with more than 750K BTC lost and the $65M civil suit in Tokyo court were still to come. During the years 2012–2013, every 3 of 4 Bitcoins in the world was sold via Mt.Gox, and it was a real success story.
The years 2011–2012 gave birth to the bulk of top centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. BTCC was founded in June 2011 as the first exchange for the Chinese market. At the same time, American developer Jesse Powell had spent a month visiting Mt.Gox offices to offer assistance in the aftermath of the first hack. He was unsatisfied with the level of business organization, and that was how Kraken was founded in July 2011. The infamous BTC-e platform for exchanging rubles for BTC was also launched in July 2011. In late 2011, the largest American exchange BitInstant was founded and started selling Bitcoin via WalMart and Walgreen. 2012 became the year of origin for Bitfinex, Coinbase (first Ethereum marketplace) and LocalBitcoins.

Pros and Cons of Centralized Exchanges

We are now six or seven years away of those days. Today, hundreds of centralized exchanges are offering the services of exchanging BTC, ERC-20 and another cryptos. We can even hardly classify them. Usually, specialists speak about three mainstream types of centralized exchanges.
Trading platforms. They connect buyers and sellers to each other, allowing them to publish trading orders and take some transactional fees (most commonly 0,3 per cent from the taker of the liquidity). For example, Cex.io, BitFinex, BitStamp belong to this group. Usually, these platforms are characterized by a complicated interface, which is not suitable for newbies.
Cryptocurrency brokers. If a trading platform is a local market where you buy goods from their producers, the broker is a small player on the market. They sell coins at definite prices while setting high fees, but allow acquiring cryptos in a simpler manner. Moreover, most of them support a broad range of payment tools. Coinbase, Coinmama, Coinhouse are among the most popular brokers.
Peer-to-peer-services. They simply allow their users to publish announcements about operations with cryptos. The buyer and the seller directly negotiate the prices. It is even possible to find one selling crypto for cash in your neighborhood. The most remarkable example here is LocalBitcoins.
As one can see, now the range of services offered is truly broad. By the way, there is a list of common complaints regarding centralized exchanges both from traders and crypto theoreticians.
Safety. Even a single point of centralization can lead to the massive theft of users’ funds and keys. More than a million BTCs have been stolen by the time of writing of this article.
Regulation. If the center (or even one of the centers) of a CEX is physically located in some country, the position of this country’s government on ICOs and crypto related issues becomes crucial for the future of the project. Legal restrictions in this sector are now imposed in the U.S., China, South Korea, India etc. When your exchange is centralized, the officials can arrest your cryptos for no reason. Moreover, the administration of the exchange can be involved in fraud with your private information and money.
Speed. We have conducted some particular research on the speed of popular CEXs (Binance, Huobi, Poloniex, see p. 11). The results are sad: you can wait dozens of minutes waiting for the pending of your transaction.
KYC/AML. There is nothing to talk about in this regard, we suppose. If you must send someone your photo, a scanned copy of your ID or even proof of income wanting nothing in return but to withdraw your own funds, it is not OK.

Decentralization: The Solution

Decentralization, as the initial meaning and internal essence of blockchain, smart-contracts and cryptocurrencies, was first italicized by Satoshi Nakamoto and even Nick Szabo in 1990–2000-s. The rise of CEXs resulted in an obvious contradiction, because blockchain-based currencies are being operated via centralized mechanisms just like Visa or MasterCard, but much slowly. Is it normal? Where is the next stage of evolution or, does it even exist in the first place?
The answer was the main point of arguments in the crypto community during the year of 2017. In February, Vitalik came out with the suggestion about the nature of blockchain’s decentralization: “Blockchains are politically decentralized (no one controls them) and architecturally decentralized (no infrastructural central point of failure), but they are logically centralized (there is one commonly agreed state and the system behaves like a single computer)”.
The only possible expression in the commercial implementation of ‘architectural decentralization’ is the decentralized exchange of cryptocurrencies.
And the most advanced technology in this case is that of the Atomic Swaps — the direct peer-to-peer instant cross-chain transaction.
CEXs were the natural and inevitable stage of development for cryptocurrency exchanges. By the way, the DEXs are coming: we found them (namely IDEX, EtherDelta and Waves DEX) on the list of the top-100 exchanges on Coinmarketcap.
So, the Swap.Online team is on the right track. Get ready for ERC-20 ⇔ BTC, ETH ⇔ BTC, USDT ⇔ BTC, EOS ⇔ BTC trading directly from your browser with neither middlemen nor a centralized infrastructure.
See you on the mainnet on August 27, 2018,
Swap.Online Team